ABSTRACT
In the first chapter, I argued that there is a metaphorical cline from the least active Dead and Sleeping metaphors to the most Active ones. And I gave examples of how, over time, meanings which were extremely metaphorical and dependent on pragmatic inferencing become conventionalized and so more dependent on semantic decoding. In Chapter 2 I demonstrated that classes of these “Inactive” metaphors pervade the lexicon and form networks by which we conceptualize abstractions in concrete terms. In this chapter I explore how the choice of word-class has consequences for metaphorical interpretation, and how derivational processes of word-formation are used to bring about such Lexicalization or semanticizing of metaphor.
